The Necromancer Who Was Despised

“… Hmm, indeed, a black magician, a necromancer at that.”

Tildy, the priest, said with interest.

“I could feel your mana, but because of your personality, I was a bit suspicious… .”

The mana is from the artifact, I use pure magic.

‘Can a priest tell the difference?’

He probably can’t tell the difference exactly. He’s not a high-ranking priest, he just said he was training.

They all just use the term mana, so there’s a high chance that he wrote it that way.

Still, there was a slight possibility, which is why I decided that it was good that I had packed the artifact.

“I’m not good at erasing my presence, but I can help in an emergency. You don’t have to worry about the rear.”

Honestly speaking, I’ll show my abilities that are better than Kereos’s party, under the condition that I assist them.

‘Magic is weak against divine power, but magical energy is a different story.’

If it’s pure magical energy, the side with the greater amount has the advantage when facing divine power.

That’s why, even though it’s a party with a priest, four Living Armors would be stronger than Kereos’s party.

“Wow, I’m seeing the protection of the undead for the first time in my life!”

At Tildy’s peaceful words, the two shield warriors nodded, and the spear wielder, Phileana, tried to say something, but she barely managed to hold back.

If it weren’t for the attitude that the villagers in Nolmeri Village showed me, she would have said something right away.

“This is amazing, what is this? The material is strange. Hmm… “Is it the shell of a Giant Ent?”

“I used that as the base and mixed in a few other things.”

“It doesn’t look ordinary… was it made by a skilled craftsman?”

“Let’s just say that.”

As expected of a mid-level mercenary, despite her young appearance, Anelis seemed to have noticed at once that the Living Armors’ bodies were not ordinary armor.

‘It was made by a dwarf, so it’s definitely different.’

Kereos took the lead, maintaining a solid formation.

There were a few battles during the march, but there was no danger.

In the process, I was able to confirm Kereos’s party’s abilities.

‘Their teamwork is pretty good.’

They were very stable and organized.

Not only were their individual abilities not bad, but their teamwork was also top-notch for mid-level mercenaries, and the performance of Kereos, the leader, and Tildy, the priest, was particularly outstanding.

‘The amount of divine power is small, but his perception is good.’

He knew exactly when and how to provide support.

‘If it weren’t for the amount of divine power, I would have been a high-ranking priest already.’

Perhaps, if there was no artifact, he would have realized that I use pure magic.

‘I shouldn’t underestimate him.’

By the way, Anelise also showed an impressive appearance. Although she used a bow as a weapon for long-range support, her accuracy and firing speed were not bad, and it was surprising.

‘Is she using mana?’

She has a lot of strength for a woman.

‘It’s a strength that’s hard to come by with that physique…’

Maybe, I thought, she might be a mixed race.

Of course, considering her human appearance, even if her blood is thick, it would be at the quarter level.

I couldn’t know for sure.

Just like that, when we went to the first terrain, we could see that the Orc tribe was there.

“It doesn’t seem to be here.”

“You can’t get drunk on the first cup.”

“Just in case, I’ll scout the surroundings once more.”

“I’ll do it.”

At that time, Athina stepped forward.

“It could be dangerous. I’m more familiar with this place…”

“Can I go?”

Athina asked me, ignoring Kereos, and I nodded.

“Thank you.”

“I’ll be back.”

Kereos and his party’s faces frowned noticeably at being completely ignored, but Athina didn’t care at all.

Even though we fought together once, Athina didn’t talk to anyone else than Tildi.

In the beginning, she was extremely wary, and although it got a little better after the village of Nolmer, it seemed like she still felt uncomfortable, looking at us with suspicious eyes.

Athina returned soon.

“There’s nothing. This is completely Orc territory.”

“You can’t get drunk on the first cup. We’ll rest today and go to the second area tomorrow.”

In the meantime, I had found a place to rest, so it didn’t take long to set up a place to rest.

Kereos’ party looked surprised at our tents and living artifacts like the boundary stone.

“…That’s a complete waste of money.”

“Watch your mouth, Flyna.”

“…Yes, leader. Sorry.”

Considering our party’s skills, everyone must have heard those words, but no one responded.

‘Well, it’s a fact.’

It was definitely a waste of money for mercenaries to use.

In particular, if there is no connection to the Magic Tower, you have to buy it through merchants, so you have to pay a huge price.

We didn’t spend a dime because we took what Kuman and the lord left behind when they died.

“We’ll take the night watch…”

“We appreciate it.”

We are the employers. That’s why they seemed to be considerate. There was no reason to refuse.

As everyone else was asleep, and while I was taking my turn on night watch, I was woken by the sound of them chatting.

“… He’s no ordinary warlock, that’s for sure.”

“Did you see the undead?”

“I saw them. “I can still see them now.”

I hadn’t put on my living armor, just in case.

“… The leader said it himself. Even he doesn’t think he can beat them.”

“Ah, but we can still beat one of them. “I bought the Mana Breathing Technique.”

“So what? Your mana capacity isn’t that high. How long has it been since you bought it?”

“Erm… Is that right?”

“And you saw how good they are? “The other three are a problem too.”

“… Damn. But their personalities seem okay so far.”

“You’ve only known them for a day or two. How do you know they won’t stab you in the back at the last moment? How many warlocks have you seen vanish after doing just that?”

“Don’t worry. If we do that, we’ll never work as mercenaries again. No matter how decentralized the Mercenary Guild is, they’ll never take us back. Unless we hide our identities for the rest of our lives… ”

Do you really think our lives are worth that much? said Rabid, with a self-deprecating laugh.

“… Damn. Is that right?”

They didn’t seem to be thinking of betraying us, but rather were afraid of being betrayed.

Of course, after seeing our power firsthand, they wouldn’t dare betray us.

I wondered why they had accepted the request if that was the case, but they must have been desperate for money given how quickly they were progressing.

It wasn’t a particularly difficult request anyway.

“We shouldn’t have put on such a show in the first place.”

“… I had no idea they were so well respected in Nolmer Village. That much reputation from just one request… It’s the first time I’ve seen the Nolmer Village Chief welcome someone so warmly.”

“It doesn’t seem like they’re going to leave after this job is done, so maybe it would have been better to get closer to them. It would have given us less to worry about.”

“… Its definitely a team that would benefit from being close to. And there’s still some prejudice… ”

“Tildy and Anelise seem okay, though?”

“… To be precise, only Tildy is okay. I don’t know why, but Anelise seems to be getting picked on?”

“Oh, that. It’s obvious. Judging by the way that woman called Atina and that guy called Kyla hate her, it’s got to be a love triangle.”

“Hmm? But hasn’t Anelise always been careful not to make mistakes like that?”

“This time seems to be a bit different. In some ways, I think it’s even more dangerous. She might be a warlock, but she doesn’t seem to be ignoring what those two say… ”

Overall, the tone was critical of Anelise.

I smiled slightly as I listened to their conversation.

I had thought there would be some division, but it was happening faster than I thought.

‘Maybe what happened in Nolmer Village was a bit too much?’

The job I had taken on for the sake of reputation had backfired spectacularly.

‘I thought it would take a while, since their teamwork is pretty good… ‘

It was all good for me, though.

Slowly but surely.

I had always intended to break them, which was why I had let Anelise openly attract the aggro of Kyla and Atina.

Cereus had been better at compartmentalizing than I thought, but…

‘What if there’s a split within the team?’

Over there, the frequency of glances directed at Anelise had also been subtly increasing.

Surely, the work is piling up.

Even if it doesn’t blow up in this request, if we take on a few more requests that are hard for one team to do as a result of this incident…

‘There are many excuses.’

For example, increasing other connections using them as an opportunity, raising our reputation, or rapidly increasing our fame.

It’s step by step.

If we’re lucky, we’ll be done with this chance but, seeing Cereo’s attitude, it doesn’t seem easy.

The sun rises and we head towards our second destination.

Since we’re moving from the inside rather than the entrance, we can’t help but be slower than yesterday and, by the time we arrive at our second destination, it’s almost dusk.

In exchange, there weren’t any battles thanks to our safe movement.

“… It’s not here either. But… I found a trace. Is this it?”

What Athena discovered were definitely the Minotaur’s footprints.

“That’s right. “How did you find them?”

Honestly, I was thinking of going to find them myself, but I couldn’t help but be a little surprised when Athena brought me the clue.

“The monster distribution was strange.”

She said quietly in a voice that only I could hear.

“I had experience making a map before.”

So she was able to notice the strangeness.

It seemed like she was talking about the time in the Green Forest Village.

‘That’s pretty good.’

Cereo’s group was also quite surprised when the Minotaur’s footprints were actually discovered.

“To think we’d find them this quickly… ”

Since it was late, we rested for another day and began tracking the Minotaur’s traces the next day.

Swoosh.

“… What the heck is in this kind of place… ”

“… Who would have thought it would be here. “I never imagined it.”

Cereo’s group muttered as if they couldn’t believe it.

It’s a place that they hadn’t even considered as a candidate.

It’s not that I said we wouldn’t be able to find it easily for nothing.

The Minotaur tribe’s habitat.

It was a cave behind a small waterfall.

‘Honestly speaking, even the waterfall is nothing special.’

It just feels like a valley. And it’s not even that big.

However, a cave is hidden behind that valley and they say that the interior is incredibly large.

‘It’s quite a famous story.’

Considering the size of the valley and the scale of the waterfall, it’s on a scale that you would never be able to guess.

That’s why, even after completely wiping out the Minotaurs, there were apparently skilled people who would hear the rumors and stop by every once in a while.

“… It really seems right. There are traces that have been erased somehow, but it’s certain.”

Even so, it was clear that they had tried to hide their location, as evidenced by their attempts to erase their traces.

‘Even so, they’re still monsters.’

“Let’s get right to it.”

There’s no reason to wait.

“We’ll take the lead from here.”

I immediately put the Living Armor at the forefront and placed Kyla and Athena behind it.

Valdur seemed to hesitate a little before taking a position near me.

‘He doesn’t want to leave me alone?’

“We’ll provide as much support as possible. The Living Armor won’t be of much help, though.”

Tildi said with a smile.

Anelace also remained on high alert with her bow drawn.

Of course. Supporting your own party and supporting Living Armors or skilled individuals are two different stories.